Kerry to attend anti-IS coalition meeting in London

Washington, Jan 19 (IANS) US Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to London next week to attend a foreign ministers’ meeting that would focus on strategising ways to counter the Islamic State (IS), the State Department announced.

Kerry would be in London Jan 22 “to consult with the UK and other counter-IS coalition partners on our shared efforts to degrade and defeat IS,” Xinhua reported, citing State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki as saying Sunday.

Kerry would also hold talks with his British counterpart, Philip Hammond, who would co-host the meeting, Psaki added.

About 20 foreign ministers from the US-led coalition are expected to attend the London meeting to discuss progress made so far in fighting IS militants, who have taken over large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.

The top US diplomat’s trip to London follows the visit to Washington last Friday by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who held a summit with US President Barack Obama, covering a range of issues including counter-terrorism, world economy, cyber-security, Iran, Ebola and Russia.

Obama and Cameron pledged to continue close cooperation to fight terrorism, and work together to boost cyber-security and also thwart terror groups’ efforts to radicalise people on social media.

The summit was held after terror strikes in France Jan 7 left 17 people killed.